New entry in the "Howard Ostrom Holmes and Watson Autograph Collection" today with Ernst Fritz Furbringer who portrayed Sherlock Holmes in two television productions.First in 1954 in an 40 min episode of Die Galerie der großen Detektive , a German series which ran from 1954-1955 with each episode covering a different story from popular crime writers including Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie. The episode was entitled "Sherlock Holmes liegt im Sterben" (Sherlock Holmes Lies In Death) and his Watson in the episode was Harald Mannl .

Furbringer would later reprise the role in the 1958 comedy television movie "Dr. med. Hiob Praetorius" but this time his Watson was played by Fred C.Siebeck.

If you would like to see more autographed photos of Holmes and Watsons of TV , film , radio , stage and more be sure to check out the rest of the Howard Ostrom Collection.

And if anyone has any ideas as to getting hold of either Fred C.Siebeck and Harald Mannl autographs/photos myself and Howard would love to hear from you. Contact myself via contact form or email Howard on howardostrom@yahoo.com .

Following on from the restructured availabilityof The Two Fold Bond. The 2nd episode of the 2nd series "The Absent Phantom" was originally released through May-July 2011 in 10 parts totaling 80 minutes , later it was streamlined into a singular video of a one hour episode to improve its flow and pace.

But on the website it is now available as the full 1 hr episode in a 6 part format as opposed to the full single video making it more accessible to new comers and to anyone that fancy's revisiting it! . The Episode was notable for the first appearance of Gene Foad in the show as the episodes client as well as a further guest appearance from Temur Durrani (The Spiritualist) .

During the course of the story line much to his dismay Holmes is forced to once again examine and acknowledge there is out more there than science can answer for.

New photos from the next upcoming NPLH episode "Dialysis Murder" are now available to see in the gallery.

Dialysis Murder is the 3rd and final episode of the third series and is presently scheduled to start in late march.It is largely agreed by cast members this is the darkest episode in theme to date and some have rather flatteringly have remarked it has reminiscences of the bleaker episodes of the Granada Series.CLICK HERE FOR GALLERY

Today see's the re-release of the edited version of the Episode "The Two Fold Bond" in 5 parts. Originally released as 8 parts through March-April 2011 to a total running time of 70 mins then later edited into a singular 50 minute Episode video to fit with the average NPLH running time and to give the episode more pace and flow.

I realize though the full format can be off putting and is not always best for busy people who prefer them in the parts hence why I am reverting the episodes availability to a 5 part format .

For those that have never seen the Episode , it is the first episode of the 2nd Series and is also the only adaption in the show of a Conan Doyle tale directly being based upon "A Case of Identity" . (Spoiler - The title refers to the two different relationships the client unknowingly shares with one man).

I have also been told this is the only live action adaption of the tale having only been done in radio and animation adaptions format before. The episode introduced the concept of The Baker Street Irregulars 2.0 as well as the first time for seeing Inspector Lestrade and Mrs Hudson (Albeit through a hallucination sequence). It is also notable for Miss Blakes heavy involvement in the direct investigation as Holmes sidekick instead of Watson due to Samuel Coe leaving the show .Watch the Episode By Clicking Here.

A "Bach" of new entries in the Misc section of the Howard Ostrom Holmes and Watson Autograph Collection today with actor/writer/director Andrew Bachelor aka King Bach who played "Sherlock Homeboy" in a parody online sketch (2012) . But also gracing us with her presence in the Misc section of the collection is Gracie Allen for her donning of the Deer stalker and lens for the promotional poster of the sleuth film "The Gracie Allen Murder Case" (1939).

This book is a compilation of the project of the same name that Barefoot on Baker Street Author Charlotte Anne Walters undertook on her blog in late 2011 in which every day for 56 days she read and reviewed upon her blog the 56 short Holmes stories. Detailing her thoughts , analysis points and her hectic day to day life.

Keith McConnell (1923 - 1987) began playing Holmes in a series of commercials, mainly Schlitz Beer, with Laurie Main (1929 - 2012) as Dr. Watson.

In 1974 he supposedly made a film "Murder In Northumberland" for West End Productions with Anthony Searl as his Dr Watson (Also known as Searle or Seerl ) .

Although where the film was ever broadcast or shown is lost to the sands of time and certainly no commercial copy appears to exist today although production stills evidently exist.

His luck appeared to change though as in 1975McConnell was asked by Gene Wilder to be Holmes in "Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother" with Laurie Main playing Watson but a last minute change in filming dates created a conflict with another film he was in and he ending up losing out on the part to Douglas Wilmer.

But another chance to gain a legacy as Holmes would rear its head shortly after for in 1976 McConnell was picked by Neil Simon to play Holmes in his detective satire "Murder by Death" with Richard Peel as Watson. While the small scene at the end of the movie was included in the ABC-TV showing, it tragically was deleted from the DVD due to the demands of some of the larger named actors, who felt the scene without big name actors detracted from their own worth.

But McConnell had a further chance presented to ensure his name would be remembered as a Holmes actor as in 1976 writer/producer/director Frank Saletri, formed PRSCO Productions and began pre production work on "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Golden Vampire" ( The autographed script for it which you can see within the photo) . The first of 10 comedy-horror films they had on their schedule with McConnell as Holmes and Alice Cooper reportedly in line to play the Vampire .The film was supposed to have a $700,000 budget and further titles planned for the series were,"The Werewolf of the Baskervilles", "The Black Creature", and "Tor-Men-Tor".

Sadly the films did not reach a production stage and swiftly there after nothing more was heard on them ever again.

However this was not the end of McConnells deer stalking days for In 1980, McConnell once again teamed up with Laurie Main, in an intro to CBS-TV Children's Mystery Theater's "The Treasure of Alpheus T. Winterborn" though when released on VHS was called "The Clue According to Sherlock Holmes". The renaming being a bit misleading as it was a bit part, in which Holmes only finds the first clue and is not seen again.

So it seems Keith McConnell played Sherlock Holmes many times with very littlelegacy. Beer commercials, films not released, films not made, scenes deleted. Sadly it seems Keith McConnell will never be remembered as the great Sherlock Holmes actor he almost was, or was, depending on how you view the facts.

But at least through this article and inducting into "The Howard Ostrom Collection" we can hopefully finally give him his recognition among the Holmes world.

Article by Howard Ostrom and Ross K FoadFoot note: - If you have any further details on McConnell's Holmes career or background , The "Murder In Northumberland" film or how we might be able to source his 3 Watson's autographs then please get in touch with Howard Ostrom on howardostrom@yahoo.com or myself via contact form.